Category — Real Estate

Since there are so many happy segments and guests on CNBC lately spouting that the recession is over, I thought I’d post some gloomier stories posted at Curbed. Here is a blog post from The Big Picture that has a variety of sad charts on real estate data. Some more bad news from The Real Deal. Enjoy!

Economics Professor, Nouriel Roubini, of New York University who correctly predicted the financial crisis says that the residential real estate market in Manhattan will fall another 20-25%. This sentiment is shared by other top economists, strategist and analysts at the Reuters Investment Outlook Summit. Read the rest of this story here.

The prices would need to fall another 70% for me to look there again. All this and there’s still condos being built all over NYC. Who knows.

From The Real Deal:

Global real estate transaction volume has slowed significantly, dropping 67 percent year-over-year in the second quarter of this year, according to the June 2009 report on global capital trends from Real Capital Analytics. But the drop between the first and second quarters was only five percent, suggesting that the decline may have hit a plateau. For the Americas, the projected quarterly sales volume is $8 billion, an 83 percent decline year-over-year and a 6 percent drop from the first quarter. Within the U.S., distressed building sales were most common in Florida, California and Texas.

Well, OK it’s Brooklyn, but still. How can a Broke Wall Streeter or recent college grad find a place for $100 a month? Pitching a tent in somebody’s backyard, that’s how. Three recent college grads have gone camping in their buddy’s backyard. It could be worse. They could be living inside the buddy’s 2 bedroom apartment which houses 6 roommates. Ahhhh, I remember sleeping in the park and eating ketchup packets 17 years ago. Those were the days. Read more here.

Could the economy be getting better? Well, it depends. Car companies, home builders, and rental property owners were advertising that if you lose your income that they would pay for your monthly payments or more. Read more in a previous post. According to CNBC, two builders are ending their mortgage protections plans, but it’s not because of an improving economy or real estate market. There just wasn’t enough interest in those programs. Oh, well. We’ll keep looking for bright spots elsewhere. Read more here.

Granite countertops. Terraces. Marble bathrooms. Walk-in closets.

The homeless are livin’ large in Brooklyn.

The city is paying hundreds of thousands of dollars a month to rent luxury condos in a Crown Heights building for homeless families, the Daily News has learned.  Read more here…

Move over sub-prime meltdown, the prime mortgages are next to head into trouble. As predicted, due to the slowing economy and massive layoffs, more and more homeowners with good credit histories are falling behind on their mortgage payments. Here’s a New York Times article on the nationwide spread of the 3rd mortgage domino to fall.

From November to February, $224 billion worth of prime mortgages were delinquent at least 90 days, and were in foreclosure or had deteriorated to the point that the lender took possession of the home. That was an increase of more than 473,000, exceeding 1.5 million, according to a New York Times analysis of data provided by First American CoreLogic, a real estate research group.

Foreclosure rates among prime borrowers have been growing fastest in states with particularly high unemployment. In California, the unemployment rate doubled to 11.2 percent for the year that ended in March, while the foreclosure rate for prime mortgages nearly tripled, reaching 1.81 percent.

Prudential Douglas Elliman’s Contracts Signed Report shows that the median sales price in Manhattan has decreased to $635,000 from $666,000 and that the average sales price has decreased to $1,001,849 from $1,029,000. Charts galore here.

In a NY Post story, Rep. Anthony Weiner of NY’s 9th Congressional District said that more than one quarter of New Yorkers are spending half of their monthly income on rent. He said data shows there are now more than 572,000 people in the city who have to shell out half their income on rental housing. That’s up more than 82,000 in six years.

Overall, 27.5 percent of city residents spend half their income for rent, he said. Bronx residents are the hardest hit: 33.1 percent pay half or more in rent. Manhattan has the lowest level at 23.7 percent. Queens has risen the fastest, from 22.3 percent six years ago to 27.7 percent now. I guess Jersey is the way to go if you want lower rent, although you risk respiratory issues with all the chemical plants and oil refineries in the area. I’m fine, though. *cough*. See.

After taking heavy losses in the recent financial turmoil, the Icelandic government has put up ambassadorial residences in Washington D.C., New York, London, and Oslo. The total asking price is more than $25 million. The Icelandic banking system failed in the Fall of 2008 causing its currency to plunge. The government was ousted from power and now receives support from the International Monetary Fund.

The 10,000 square foot Washington D.C. residence built in 1928 sits on 0.17 acres and has ten bedrooms, five bathrooms, and a pool. The asking price is $5.65 million. The London residence is a 6,900 square foot house with an elevator and a communal garden. The asking price is $14.4 million. The New York residence is a four bedroom apartment on Park Avenue at 55th Street. The $5.6 million will also get you staff/guest quarters on the penthouse level. the Oslo residence has not been appraised yet.